Paint sprayers are well-known and popular for use in painting surfaces, such as architectural structures, furniture, and the like. For smaller jobs, which use a limited amount of paint, handheld spray devices are particularly advantageous. A handheld spray device includes a reservoir, typically in the form of a cup that is filled with paint and attached to the spray device. The overall weight of the spray device and the paint within the reservoir is small enough to allow the user to hold and orient the spray device in a variety of different directions in order to apply paint that is needed.
Paint is typically sold in paint containers (e.g., metal cans) in several industry standard sizes (volumes), which vary throughout the world. For example, in the United States, one common industry standard paint container size is one quart. In Europe, a common industry standard container size for paint is one liter.
Although industry standard paint container sizes exist, and the typical shape of the container is a cylindrical metal can with a press fit top cover, the dimensions of the paint container cans vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. For example, one liter paint cans may vary from about 4.2 to 4.4 inches in outer diameter and from about 5.0 inches to 5.7 inches in height. Similar variations exist for one quart metal paint cans.
Users of handheld paint sprayers have typically been required to pour paint from the paint can in which the paint was sold into the cup or reservoir that fits with the particular handheld spray device. When a paint job is completed, the reservoir is detached from the paint sprayer and any unused paint must be poured back into the paint can. Each time a job is completed, the reservoir must be emptied and cleaned, so that it will be ready for the next job.